Method for mounting and registering printing elements



Oct. 7, 1947. 'v W, MCCARTER 2,428,428

METHOD FOR MOUNTING AND REGISTERING PRINTLNG ELEMENTS original Filed sept. 25, 1939 lllllllll Patented Oct. 7, i947 UNITED STATES 4 ,PAI'lE-lNT OFFICE METHOD FOR MOUNTING AND REGISTER.

INor PRINTING William L. McCar-ter, Hanford, (Jalif.,.assignor of one-half to, H, Farrington, lhirtland,A Greg,

substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 296,273, September 23, 1939'. This application November 9, 1942, Serial No'. 464,997'

(Cl. lille-@QLD 5 Claims, l

My invention relates to the art of printing, and it relates more particularly to those printing operations in which printed matter is superimposed on other printed matter as, for example, Where colored letters are printed in juxtaposition with previously printed black letters.

Considerable difficulty has hereto-fore been encountered in the printing operations mentioned in that it has been d-iicult properly to register thev matter printed in color with that printed in black, and my present invention is directed to the facilitation of said registration. It will beunderstood that myinvention is not limited to the registration of colored matter with black, this object being cited by way of illustration, not by way of limitation. My invention is directed broadly to the registrationY of printed matter with any kind of reference datum, regardless ofLA color or form.

This application isfa substitutel for lmy previous application filed' Septemberj23, 1939-, SerialNur'nber 296,273, entitled- Method andv means for mounting and registeringkv printing element-s.

My invention is particularly useful in connection with rubber type, although other materiall for saidtype may be used, andit will be described in connection with that form o printingA device in which said type is carried; by a cylinder. The problem is to position, said4 type on said cylinder so that it will register properly with some reference datum on the paper passing thereover. If the type on said cylinder isl in only one section, said type may lbe properly registered by merely rotating` said cylinder independently of Said paper, and thenV moving said cylinder end wise also independently ofk said' paper untilv said type isin the desired position.

I have found, however, that itis highly advantageous frequently` to use a plurality of sections of type on a single cylinder, but this has not been practical with any methodandmeans here,- tofore known. It requires that each sectionof type be accurately spacedA from each other sec,- tion, and that eachA of said sections shall be props erly oriented. Not until this isaccomplishedcan the type be properlyregistered by shiftingthe cylinder, as previously described. My present inf- Vention is directed to the proper positioning ci a plurality oi sections oftypewith respect to. eih other in order that they may'all thereafter be properly registered by shifting the cylinder on which they are mountedl with respect to the paper.

My reason for wishing. to Ause a. plurality. of

sections. of type rather than aY single, section, are twoafold. First, itI Willsave a great dealof material in case a small amount of type. is to be scattered overa large area, inasmuch asno. material will beusedin the blankv spaces. oi said area. Secs ond, agreat 'deal of dimculty in properly posir ti'oning the type onv the single, large section will be avoided. In accordance withl my invention, the problem of locating the difieren-t parts of a large section ofty-pe is transferred from the type molding operation' to the type mounting' operation where it is greatly simplified bythe method and meansy hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying dit/mes, in which:

Fig?, 1` is a plan. View or a printing cylinder with a transparent blanket carrying type sections embodyingl my. invention in place thereon parts thereof being Shown broken away to disclose ull- .derlyilg Parts;

Figi-2. is an enlarged yfragmentary sectional View takenI along the line'2-2 in Fig. 1

Eig, a plan View oi the transparent blanket o Fig., 1,s, 1 1p,e rposed, on av copy sheet whichisposi.- tionedover a glass panel;

.Eig..4.is a. fragmentary View oi a paper printed .by thetypeonsaid sheet;

Fig; 5. is; an. enlarged iragmentary perspective View. oil' a` portion of` saidcylinder amilX blanket showing someofthe type vthereon ;l

Fig. 6 isa verticalsectiontaken ontheline 5.-.5 -in.Fig-. 3.;

Eig. 'l is a. fragmentary perspective View of. a portion of the cylinder oiFig. l, together with. a portion-ot the backing. roller used-ini conjunction therewith, the paper being printed beingr shown therebetween; vand Eig. 8'- isa Vfragmentary Viewl ofy a perforated opaque-blanket embodying a modioation of my invention; l

A transparent; base lu having'a row ofI eyelets 2 across each ofv itsendsis adapted-to be fastened around' cylinder 3' byhooking one row of, said eyelets on v a row of pins 4' which may, if desired, be pressefitted insaid cylinder and' wrapping said basearound. said cylinderA andhooking the other ,row4 of saideyelets on a. secondV row ofi-pins 5 carried by` rodr 6. Said rod isrotatably Amounted withinsaid cylinder near the periphery thereof so that p ins 5 protrude to the outside of, said cylinder. Saidrod 6 carriesan arm 1 which, engages spring 8` to tend to rotate said rod in the direction'to tighten said basev by meansof said Pins- 5;.V Said-,1 base is thus heldf securely on said cylinder, and it may readily be removed therefrom when arm l is pulled against spring 8.

As mentioned, I desire to place a plurality of sections of type in predetermined positions on said base. 'lo this end, I provide a glass panel 9 over a source of light, such as lamps IIJ, and I place a copy Il of the paper to be imprinted on said panel.V It will be understood that said copy will have some printed matter on its face. printed matter may be complete in one color, in which case some of its letters may be covered with sections of type in order that they may be` printed in color on other paper, or said copy may be fragmentary, in which case the omitted letters are to be supplied by the type sections.

, Iplace said copy on said panel with its printed matter downward, the reverse side of said copy preferably being blank. The light from saidY lamps then shines through said paper sufficiently to make said printed matter visible. I then place said base I over said copy and said printed matter is still visible, since I make said base of Celluloid,

or some 'other sufliciently transparent but unyielding material. I then place sections of type on said blanket, positioning them accurately with reference to said printed matter. By way of illustration, the copy shown in Fig. 3 has printed Also printed on said copy is the word hatsV It is desired to print in red an ornamental figure I3 surrounding said word, as shown in Fig. 4. Said ornamental figure is formed on a small sec- Y tion of rubber I4, and said section is fastened to said base by another small sheet of adhesive material I5. Said ornamental figure has the letters hats cut on its face, preferably cut through it, so that said letters will not appear red. Said section I4 must then be placed on said base so accurately that said letters cut in its face will exactly cover the black letters on the copy without overlapping and without leaving a white line between.. This may be done easily by the method incorporating my invention since it is only necessary to place said section over the letters of said copy, both being clearly visible.

At the opposite corner of said copy sheet, it is desired to print the characters $3.00 in red, and to align said characters with other printed matter (not'shown). This may be done in the way described, It will be seen that a great deal of material will be saved by making said type sections small rather than using one large sheet.

After all of the sections of type that are to print in red are fastened to said blanket, I remove the latter from said panel and place it on said l cylinder, as described. Then, when paper I8 is printed to correspond with said copy is drawn overesaid cylinder, the red letters will probably Vnot register properly with the black. I, therefore, rotate said cylinder while said paper remains stationary until one of said sections registers properly longitudinally of said paper, The remainder of said sections will then also register' properly. I then move said cylinder lengthwise Vacross said paper until perfect register is'secured.

In Fig. 4 is shown a paper having the Word Said hats printed in black and the ornamental gure printed by section of type I4 in red surrounding said word. Also, the letter S is printed in red by section I2 in front of the letter A.

I prefer that base I be made transparent for the purpose described. However, an opaque blanket I6 made of lthin metal, for example, having aligned rows of holes I1 vspaced apart a predetermined distance may be similarly utilized, said holes being spaced closely enough so that the printed matter on the copy over which it is placed maybe read through them.

In placingthe base over the copy, care should be taken that the two are oriented with respect Y to each other as said base will be oriented with respect to the paper to be imprinted. The direction of travel of the base and paper Will be the same; hence the type sections should be placed on the base when the latter is arranged to travel in the same direction as the copy.

I claim:

1. In the art of printing, the method of securing registration of printing elements upon certain unprinted spaces left on a partially printed sheet in which it is vdesired toimprint by said printing elements, consisting in fixing said sheet upon a transparent surface illuminated from one side p thereof, arrangingr a flexible transparent base over said sheet so fixed, and in registration there-V 2. In the art of printing, the method of Secura ing registration of printing elements upon certain unprinted spaces left on a partially printed sheet in which it is desired 'to imprint by said' printing f elements, consisting in fixing said sheet 1.111011 a .flat transparent surface illuminated from one side thereof, arranging a flexibleY transparent base over said sheet so fixed, and in registration therewith, securing exible printing elements to said base in registration with the spaceson said sheet in which it is desired to imprint, removing said base and printing elements secured thereto and securing said base to a printing roll of a printing press with said elements arranged outwardly therefrom.

3. In the art of printing, the method of securing registration of printing elements upon certain unprinted spaces left on a partially printed sheet in which it is desired to imprint by said printing elements, consisting in fixing said sheet upon a flat transparent surface illuminated from below said surface,V arranging a flexible transparent base over said sheet so fixed, and in reg-f' istrationV therewith, securing flexible printing elements to said base in registration with the spaces on said sheet in which it is desired to imprint, removing said baseA and printing Velements secured thereto and securing said base to a printing roll of a printing press with saidelements arranged outwardly therefrom.

4. In the art of printing, the method of secur- Y with, securing flexible lrubber printing elements to said base in registration with the spaces on said sheet in which it is desired to imprint, removing said base and printing elements secured thereto and securing said base to a printing roll of a printing press with said elements arranged outwardly therefrom.

5. In the art of printing, the method of securing registration of printing elements upon certain unprinted spaces left on a partially printed sheet in which it is desired to imprint by said printing elements, consisting in Xing said sheet upon a transparent surface illuminated from one side thereof, arranging a flexible transparent base over said sheet so xed, and in registration therewith, securing eXible rubber printing elements to said base by adhesion therewith and in registration with the spaces on said sheet in which it is desired to imprint, removing said base and printing elements secured thereto and securing said base to a printing roll of a printing press with said elements arranged outwardly therefrom.

WILLIAM L. MCCARTER.

REFERENCES CITED 10 The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 15 2,099,364 Hunter Nov. 16, 1937 2,131,323 Huelner Sept. 27, 1938 2,294,879 Aielder Sept. 8, 1942 2,163,948 Huebner June 27, 1943 

